Three Ways to Read It
The buttons at the top switch between Breakdown Sheet, Table View and By Day. They all show the same scenes.
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| Breakdown Sheet | One scene at a time, laid out like a paper breakdown sheet. The arrows and the N of M counter step through the scenes |
| Table View | Every scene as a row, sorted by scene number, with a column per category |
| By Day | The same table cut down to the shoot day selected in the top bar. Switch days with the arrows up there |
The Breakdown Sheet
The top of the sheet has the scene number, the slug line coloured by INT/EXT and D/N, and the synopsis. On the right sit Sheet, Pages, Script Day and Est. Time. Below come the category boxes: Cast Members, Background Actors, Stunts, Props, Vehicles, Special Effects, Wardrobe, Makeup/Hair, Animals, Greenery, Set Dressing, Camera, Grip/Electric, Weapons, Transportation, VFX, Special Equipment, Additional Labor, Sound, Elements, Location and Notes. Each box saves to its own column in the table view, where Special Equipment is ADDL EQUIP. A Music category from Movie Magic arrives as a custom column. Your custom columns follow as boxes of their own, then a dashed ADD CATEGORY box. To edit a box, click it once to select it and again to type. Press Enter or a comma to turn what you typed into a chip. Backspace in an empty box takes the last chip off. Click a chip to rename it. Connected Scenes sits at the bottom of the sheet. See Connected Scenes.
Table View
SC, PGS, D/N, I/E, SCRIPT DAY, SET, DESCRIPTION and CAST come first, then Est. Then the department columns: PROPS, MU/HAIR, COSTUME, SET DRESS, SPFX, WEAPONS, CAMERA, SOUND, GRIP/ELEC, STUNTS, TRANSPO, PIC VEH, VFX, ADDL EQUIP, ADDL LABOR, GREENERY, ANIMALS/WRANGLER, EXTRAS, ELEMENTS and NOTES. Drag a column edge to resize it. The first column is an unlabelled calendar icon that tells you whether the scene is on the schedule. EXTRAS shows orange chips such as x4 Diners when the Background tab has groups working the scene. Hover a row for the trash icon to delete the scene. There is no confirmation and Undo does not bring a deleted scene back, so aim carefully.
The Edit Lock
The breakdown opens locked. The top bar says Editing locked. Click a cell or that label and you get Edit Breakdown Data?, which reminds you that changes here reach call sheets, production reports and other documents on every shoot day. Click Yes, Unlock Editing to go ahead. The unlock lasts 10 minutes, with a countdown in the top bar. When it runs out the breakdown locks again and the next edit asks again.
Custom Columns
Add > Add Custom Column, the + at the end of the table header and the ADD CATEGORY box on the sheet all open the same Add Custom Column dialog. Type a name and click Add. The column is a text column for the whole production. It shows in capitals in the table and as a box on the sheet.
Est. Time and Script Day
Est. Time is the time you expect the scene to take. Click it for a picker with Hours from 0 to 12 and Minutes in 5-minute steps. The table shows it as 1:30. The stripboard and the calendar hover add it up for each day, and the CS Front can print it per scene. Script Day is free text: D3, Night 2, whatever your script supervisor uses.
Breakdown Versions / Import
File > Breakdown Versions / Import brings breakdown changes in from outside. Pick one of two paths.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Breakdown only | Reads a PDF, CSV or Excel file and matches scenes by number. Category fields update and new cast are added to scenes. The schedule and shoot days are left alone, and no cast is removed. For PDFs, choose Movie Magic 10 or Movie Magic 6 |
| Schedule + Breakdown | Opens the full import wizard so you review every schedule change before anything is written |
Export and Google Sheets
File > Export saves the breakdown as Excel (.xlsx) with scene colours, or as a USS file. Export New Google Sheet builds a new sheet called <Show> - Breakdown and links it to the production. After that, Update Linked Sheet rewrites the linked sheet with the current breakdown. The sync runs one way. Edits made in Google Sheets are overwritten on the next update and never come back into G-Casper Pro.
Adding a Scene
Add > Add Scene opens Add New Scene. Create from scratch asks for Scene #, D/N, Int/Ext, SET/Heading and Description. Only the scene number is required. Duplicate existing scene is the quicker route for a 12A cut from 12. Search in Scene to duplicate, pick the scene and give it a New Scene Number. The copy takes D/N, Int/Ext, the set, the synopsis, the cast and every category. It leaves pages, Script Day, Est. Time, notes and custom columns blank, so fill those in.